


Our Perfectly Imperfect Story.

by Itsreallyjustforresearch83



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Badass maya hart, Exploring feelings, Gen, Heartache, Heartbreak, Hidden Talents, Hidden parenthood, Lucas the good, Older Characters, Teen Pregnancy, girl meets world au, hidden love, lucaya - Freeform, lucaya endgame - Freeform, supportive friends, supportive parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22937257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itsreallyjustforresearch83/pseuds/Itsreallyjustforresearch83
Summary: They've been out of high school for a couple of years now. Last time they all really saw each other was three years ago, Riley was with Lucas at the time and Maya took off. She couldn't watch her best friend date the guy that she had been in love with since middle school.Circumstances arise and feelings are brought forward.Will Maya finally get the life that she's always wanted or will it all go wrong.
Relationships: Lucas Friar/Maya Hart, Lucas Friar/Riley Matthews
Comments: 12
Kudos: 40





	1. I need to talk to you

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a quick little thing that I wrote at two in the morning.   
> Lucaya is endgame for me always.   
> Hope you enjoy :)

As soon as they graduated, Maya was gone. Not even her parents knew where she was. She said goodbye to them without them realizing that that's what she was doing. She gave Riley a collage of all their memories over the years, Zay got a cute little cowboy figure that he drew their freshmen year that Maya turned into an actual figurine for him, Farkle got a hand drawn poster with every constellation on it. Corey and Topanga got letters thanking them for all of their support over the years, and Lucas? Well, Lucas got a painting. It was on a fairly large canvas and it was of their night in Texas when they were all there so he could ride the bull. It was of the fire and them standing in the glow of it. The stars were painted brightly, her seamlessly capturing the moment as if it was an actual photo. He thanked her for and the next day, she was gone without a trace. They all tried to get a hold of her but to no avail. Her number had been changed and her snapchat seemed to be deleted, along with her facebook, instagram and anything else they could've gotten a hold of her on. Lucas comforted Riley the best he could. He hated seeing his girlfriend in pain, but the ache in his chest knowing that there was a good chance he'd never see Maya again, well that was a pain that he'd never experienced before. A few months had gone by, all of them starting college and their lives getting busy. Lucas's new friends were partiers, they liked getting into trouble and finding new ways to get the adrenaline pumping. Riley and him went to the same school, her friends were the preppy, fed off a silver spoon type of people. Lucas didn't vibe with them. His relationship with Riley was getting harder and harder to keep healthy, the strain of the new chapter of their life making it hard. 

"What do you mean you can't come with me?" Riley was laying on Lucas's bed in his dorm. "We had this planned for weeks!" She rolled over to look at him. He was folding his laundry.   
"Correction, you and your friends have had this planned for weeks. You just assumed that I'd be coming along." He didn't bother looking at her, letting out a sigh.   
"Well, yeah. Of course I assumed that you'd be coming with. You're the boyfriend and I need your opinions on somethings that we are going to be looking at." She sat up on his bed.  
"Riley, it's just some clothes for your guys meetings. It's really not that big a deal." He picked up his piles and started to put them away where they belonged. "Besides, me and Brody are going out with the rest of the guys. We got invited to this party in Manhattan." He closed his dresser drawer and looked up in time to catch the scowl on Riley's face before she made it disappear.   
"A party? Lucas, it's Tuesday night. You have an 8:30 class tomorrow morning." She stood up and walked towards him, laying her hands on his chest.   
"Okay and? We've done it tons of times and we still always make it to class the next day. It's nothing for us."   
"Are you going to be drinking?" She crossed her arms.   
"Probably, why?" He walked away from her, reaching for the mini-fridge looking for a soda.   
"You know I hate it when you drink!" She stomped her foot like a child throwing a tantrum would.   
"And I hate it when you try to tell me what to do." He cracked his soda open and there was a knock on his door. He walked over to open it and when he did, three girls came storming into his room. "What the fuck?" He muttered to himself as he shut the door.   
"Riley! Are you ready to go?" Beth, a short, too preppy, and loud friend of Riley's.   
"Come on, we don't have a ton of time to get to all the stores before they close and there's this one dress I found that would be a great fit for the press meeting that we have to do!" Anna, a tall, lanky, junior that Riley had befriended. Her father basically ran half of New York.   
"I found this cute romper that I want to grab before they're all gone. They're starting to come back into style and I want to be one of the people that starts the trend here." Carly, a skinny, slightly stupid and obnoxious girl that he really had no idea of how she got into this school.   
"Yeah, I'll be ready in a second. Lucas isn't coming with us, let me go to the bathroom and then we'll be good to go." She walked past her friends into his bathroom. They all looked at him like he was a science experiment and they had to figure out what's wrong with them.   
"Why aren't you coming with us? Riley said that you were." Beth asked him.   
"Riley never asked me if I wanted to. She just assumed that I would be. I have my own plans for tonight." He sat on his couch and turned his PS4 on. He had some time before the guys were showing up for them to go.   
"What plans? Are you still hanging out with the hoodrats that shouldn't even be here?" She had a nasty twang to her voice when she asked that.   
"I'd much rather hang out with the 'hoodrats' than sit around and pretend to like whatever the hell you guys are getting for whatever stupid shit you guys have to do." He smiled at her, not giving a damn when she raised a hand to her chest and gaped at him.   
"How'd you even get here? If you're so content with throwing your life away with them." Carly spoke up.   
"I could ask you the same thing. Your light bulb doesn't seem to bright, Carly. Did daddy's money get you in here?" He looked at his T.V. screen chuckling to himself.   
"I hate you." She said as she stormed out of his room.   
"The feeling is mutual." He mumbled under his breath. Riley walked out of the bathroom and asked where Carly went. Beth and Anna explained to her what just went down and she looked at him.   
"Could you at least pretend to like my friends?" She scolded him.  
"Can you pretend to like mine?" He was met with silence. "That's what I thought." He laughed as he heard the door slam shut. "Fucking finally." He let out a breath. He was starting to get tired of Riley and all of her fanatics. Trying to make him someone that he doesn't want to be anymore. In high school, he was their moral compass. Always making sure that they made the right choices or at least made them think about the consequences of what they were about to do. It usually worked, for the most part anyway. Except for, well, except for Maya. Her name still made his heart ache. Maya was always the wild card. She listened when she wanted to, broke the rules more often than not, and had a whole lot of people that would fall at her feet trying to make her like them. He hoped that she was doing okay, wherever she was.   
But after high school, he wanted to shed all of that shit. Wanted to start over, become someone else, didn't want anyone to know who he used to be. So far, it's working. No one had questioned him about his past, they all just knew that he moved here from Texas and that was it. They never asked so he never had to give answers. There was another knock on his door.   
"It's open!" He yelled, still playing his game. Brody, Nick and Jack walked in.   
"You ready to go? The car's running downstairs." Brody pointed over his shoulder.   
"Yeah, let me grab the rest of my shit." He turned his console off and grabbed his NYC sweatshirt. He threw it on over his shirt and grabbed his phone of the table. "Let's get it." He smiled as left his place with his friends.

The drive to the part was fun, they lit up a blunt and pre-gamed on the way there. When they rolled up to the house the road was packed with cars. He knew that this party was going to be a good one. They all unloaded out of the car and went up the walk way to the door. It was wide open with people spilling out of it, holding cups up for the boys to pass through them. They all split ways as soon as they got inside, they all knew the drill. Enjoy the party on ya own and when they're all ready to leave meet by the car. If they were all drunk though, they spent the night wherever there was room to sleep. There were people everywhere, standing shoulder to shoulder, people dancing on each other, sharing blunts and cigarettes. He got stopped by a few people, them starting a conversation with him, asking about Riley or some other odd thing. Only few people knew he was in a relationship, but he didn't exactly act single. He never slept with anyone at parties even though there were plenty of people that wanted to. He finally made his way to the kitchen, grabbing a cup and filling it with an assortment of liquor. He took a sip and scanned the crowd, he noticed a girl dancing on the other side of the room. She had blonde hair that stopped at her shoulders with pink streaks in it. She had a red flannel on and a pair of black skinny jeans, they looked good on her. He thought that maybe he would go and talk to her, at some point in the night. He downed the rest of the cup and when he turned back around from refilling it she was gone. A random girl came up to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the living room to dance. He spotted his friends around the house all of them enjoying themselves. He saw the girl out of the corner of his eye again and she looked familiar to him. He wondered if he had seen her around school before. His train of thought was disrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. he turned around and groaned.   
Riley.  
"What are you doing here?" He had to practically yell over the music playing.   
"This is what you wanted to do instead of come with me?" She yelled back. "Are you high?" She got up in his face and the girl he was dancing with sent him an apologetic smile as she walked away from him.   
"Yeah, I'm high. Why's it matter? It's a party!" She grabbed him by his sleeve and pulled outside.   
"Why does it matter? Seriously? Lucas what changed with you?" She wasn't yelling anymore, thank god. There were too many people out there.   
"What ever do you mean, Princess Riley?" He took another drink out of his cup. She grabbed it from him and threw it on the ground. "Hey!"   
"You know what I mean, Lucas! You had so many dreams in high school. You were going to do so many good things with your life and now here you are! Partying all the time, getting drunk, smoking weed! You've changed so much since high school! What changed!?" She was getting red in the face and unlike him, it wasn't because of the alcohol.   
"What changed, Riley? Really?" He laughed at her. "What changed is that I wanted to live a little. Take risks, have fun, have a life other than just keeping my grades up, being a good person, keep people from doing dumb shit!" He was getting angry. "I'm sorry that you don't want to change anything about yourself or your life. You're content being the perfect image that your parents wanted for you. That's fine, but I'm not going to do that. I've gone through too damn much in my life to not be allowed to have some fucking fun." He was in her face by the time he stopped speaking.   
"What did you honestly go through in high school that would make you act like this?" She whispered.   
"Are you fucking kidding me right now? Nothing besides, oh ya know, being stuck in a fucking love triangle with two of my best friends at the time. Because that was fun. My dad divorcing my mom and taking everything that she had, that was great too. Oh and all the bullshit that I've put up with from you from the day that I picked you in that damn love triangle." He laughed some more. "And at the end of it all, the thing that honestly set all of this off. I lost the one person that I was the closest to and I haven't seen them or heard from them in god knows how long and maybe I'm just trying to fill that hole that she left when she walked away without actually saying goodbye! I lost the girl I love and I couldn't even do anything to stop it!" He realized what he said when he watched Riley's eyes go wide. "Shit." He muttered.   
"You...you don't love me?" She backed away from him. "I thought...it's been three years and I'm not the one that you actually wanted to be with?" She had tears forming.   
"Riley, that's not what I meant.." He reached out to her but she recoiled away from him.   
"No, Lucas. That's exactly what you meant. Drunk words speak sober thoughts." They just stood there, looking at each other, not knowing what to say when a voice interrupted them.   
"Lucas Friar, my oh my how much you've changed." Both of their heads snapped to where the voice was coming from. "Sorry, I know that clearly this isn't the best time but I need to talk to you." The girl with the short blonde and pink hair pointed at him. He knew now why she seemed familiar.   
"Maya.." He muttered. Forgetting about Riley he crossed the yard to her in three big steps, scooping her small frame into his arms. "Maya, Maya, Maya..." He whispered into her hair. He faintly heard Riley say something but he didn't care to know what. Maya held onto him like he was the last thing in the universe.   
"Hey, Huckleberry. I knew I'd find you here." She smiled up at his as he set her down. He didn't let go of her, he never wanted to let go of her.   
"Why'd you...where have...how...?" He didn't even know where to start with the questions, he had too many.   
"Come on, why don't we go back to my place." She grabbed his hand and he followed her, keeping his eyes fixed on her, afraid that she was going to disappear again.   
"I have to tell my friends that I'm leaving.." He told her.   
"Text them from the car, Huckleberry. We've got a lot to talk about." She had a southern drawl to her voice, something she didn't have before. She led him to a truck, a big, black four door. She climbed into the drivers seat and he got in the other side. He pulled his phone out and sent a text to Nick letting him know that he was gone.   
"Where are we going?" He was looking at her. She looked older with shorter hair, more like an adult. He was afraid that if he looked away for too long that she would dissipate into thin air.   
"I have a place here, it's not that far. Just relax, Lucas. I'm not going to disappear." She laughed softly and it was the most wonderful thing that he's heard in a long time.   
"I've missed you. I've missed you so much." He told her and she looked over at him, a sad smile on her lips.   
"I've missed you too Lucas." The rest of the drive was quiet, the country playing through the radio the only sound. They pulled up to a nice looking building, her perfectly parallel parking her truck. He stumbled out of her truck, catching himself on a street light. "Come on, Huckleberry. But try to keep your drunk ass quiet, I don't want you to wake Lilah up." She took his hand and brought up the stairs to a door. She opened it and closed it softly behind them, turning the kitchen light on. There were boxes everywhere, signs of her just moving in. There was someone sitting in the living room on their phone.  
"Hey, Maya." It was a girl, maybe 16 years old.   
"Hey, Becca. Did she go down alright?" Maya walked over to her and handed her a wad of bills.   
"Yep, she was perfect. Even cooperated when it was bath time." They both laughed. Lucas didn't know what to do so he just stood there with his hands in his pants pockets.   
"That's good, thank you again for coming over on such short notice." She hugged the girl as she stood up.  
"Oh, you know it's no problem. Lilah is always a joy to babysit. Feel free to always give me a call if you need someone to watch her." Becca grabbed her coat and purse and left, Maya telling her to text her when she got home alright.   
"Who's Lilah?" They both looked down the hall as the sound of little footsteps came down them. A little girl came walking out, rubbing her eyes.  
"Momma? Is that you?" The little girls voice was laced with sleep.   
"Baby, what are you doing awake? Ms. Becca said that you were sleeping." Maya picked the girl up and held her on her hip. Lucas just watched the interaction. The little girl had called Maya momma.   
"I did. But I heard you talking and I missed you." She laid her head on Maya's shoulder. She had wavy blonde hair and green eyes that were looking right at Lucas.   
"I missed you too baby. While you're up, this is Lucas." Maya pointed and looked at him.   
"Cowboy Lucas?" Lilah picked her head up looked at Lucas again, her little face smiling.   
"Yes, Ms. Lilah. I suppose I am Cowboy Lucas." He walked closer to her and Maya, tipping an imaginary cowboy hat, making Maya and the little girl laugh. Lilah reached her arms arms out and made grabby hands at Lucas. He looked at Maya and shrugged her shoulders, turning so Lucas could take Lilah from her. He held the little girl close, bouncing lightly. "Tell me, what has your momma all told you about me?" He looked at Maya and smiled and she smiled back as her daughter's face lit up.  
"That you rode a big bull in Texas! And that and that and that you were a really good friend that kept Momma out of trouble." She put her hands on Lucas's face.  
"Well, Ms. Lilah, I sure did ride that bull and I definitely tried to keep your momma out of trouble." He laughed as the little girl started to lightly pat his face.   
"You're pretty, Mr. Lucas." She smiled at him.   
"Why thank you." He booped her nose.   
"Alright, baby. It's late, let's get you back to bed." She grabbed Lilah from Lucas.   
"Okay. Goodnight, Mr. Lucas." She waved her little hand at him as they went down the hallway again. He sat at the kitchen table and looked around. Nothing in the place screamed Maya, but then again, he didn't really know who she was anymore. It's been almost four years since he's seen her. She came back down the hall and sat at the table with him.   
"So, you have a daughter." He said to her.   
"Yes, sir I do." She smiled. Her smile was still the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.   
"She's got good manners for being so young." He laughed a little.   
"Yeah, well, manners are something they learn young in Texas. Come on, Lucas, you should know that." She laughed with him.   
"Texas? That's where you've been all this time?" He asked her.  
"Yep, had a little apartment in Austin. But I knew it was time to come home." She looked around her place. "I still have to unpack everything yet, but I've only been back for a little under a month." She looked at him.   
"Can I ask you something?" He leaned across the table.   
"Sure, what do you want to know?" She crossed her hands on the table, looking very.....adultish.   
"Who's Lilah's dad? If you don't want to tell me that's okay, but I was just wondering because I notice that he's not here. I don't know who would give you up and leave such a perfect little girl." He shook his head.   
"That's why I came back. I needed to talk to you. Lilah is getting old enough now to notice how the other kids have a momma and a daddy." She licked her lips.   
"So, who's the guy?" He didn't know if he was jealous or angry that whatever guy it was left her and her daughter. He knew that Maya had to deal with that and wouldn't ever intentionally do that to her child.   
Her next words sobered him up in about 2 seconds.   
"You, Lucas. You're her father."


	2. Excuse Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas is just trying to understand

"What?" He choked on the word. He wasn't a dad, there was no way that he was a dad.  
"Huckleberry, you just met Lilah." She spoke like she was speaking to a small child.  
"Her last name." Was all he could come up with.  
"What?" She looked confused.  
"Lilah, what's her last name?" She set her mouth in a thin line, not answering him. "Maya, what is your daughters last name?" He was trying to stay calm.  
"Lucas..." Now Maya was the one with the texan accent, something that he never thought that he would hear. "I'm sorry..." She whispered.  
"Please tell me." He reached out and put his hand on top of hers. She looked at him and a small smile formed on her face.  
"Friar...her last name is Friar." She grabbed his hand.  
"Lilah Friar." He repeated.  
"Yes sir, born in Austin, Texas." She was just looking at him, trying to figure out what he was feeling.  
"How...are you sure that she's....that she's mine?" He felt bad asking her and he could see the hurt on her face.  
"I'm sure that she's yours. When she was born she looked just like you." She laughed.  
"When did you know? That you were pregnant, I mean." He wanted to know how long she knew.  
"I was three months along when we graduated. Walking the stage was terrifying for me because I had the outfit picked out the first day of senior year. When I put it on, it hugged me so tight that you could see the barely showing bump, but it was there. That's why I never took the gown off, not for pictures not or anything." She laughed a little. "I didn't want anyone to know about her."  
"How do you know that she's mine? Not saying that I think that you slept around in high school, I'm just not following the timeline" He tilted his head to look at her.  
"Do you remember when you and Riley were having a rough patch? You guys had broken up for a little while." He nodded. "Do you remember coming to my place, climbing through the window and into bed with me?" He nodded again. "You were upset and I let you lay with your head on my chest, I ran my fingers through your hair and tried to tell you that it wasn't your fault that you guys were starting to want different things. You looked at me with so much sadness in your eyes, I wanted to fix that. I kissed you and the next thing I knew, we were making out, you laying me flat on my bed your weight over me. We...we might have taken it far but I didn't care, I wanted to make sure that you felt loved. Loved and appreciated. I wanted to make sure that you knew that even if Riley couldn't show you what you deserved that I could. Even knowing that you'd go back to her someday soon after that." She stopped talking and he remembered the night that she was talking about like it was yesterday. Him and Riley had gotten into a huge fight, yelling and screaming at each other. They wanted different things in life, they were starting to realize that, but they didn't want to give up their relationship. So they went on a break, giving each other space to keep their heads clear. In the end, they had compromised, found a way to stay together. But that night, the night everything blew up, he ran to the one person that he knew could make him feel better. He ran from Riley's room right to Maya's window.  
"But we were, we were careful. We used protection and everything." He told her.  
"Yeah, Lucas we did. But condoms are only 98% effective. Shit happens." She shrugged and stood up, walking to the fridge. She grabbed a water for herself and him.  
"So, you knew you were pregnant before we even graduated?" She nodded. "And you knew that she was mine?" She nodded again. "So why did you run? You know that I would've never let you raise her on your own." He took the water that she offered, opening it to take a drink.  
"You and Riley were in a good spot. Both got accepted into the same school, had a nice life unfolding in front of you guys. I wasn't about to be the whoops that held you back from reaching your dreams. I knew that if I left, went somewhere that no one who I was, I could start over. Just be known as a new mom in the area and I worked." She smiled at him. "And as much as Riley and I had grown apart our senior year, I wasn't about to break her heart by telling her that the baby I was carrying was the love of her life's." He let out a bitter laugh and it caught her off guard.  
"Yeah, well, you probably would've saved us both a lot of pain if you would have." He looked at her and she tilted her head.  
"I noticed, outside at the party. You guys haven't been getting along lately?" She got up and motioned him to the living room, putting them on the couch.  
"We haven't gotten along in three years, Maya. You were the one thing that made me want to even stick it out with her, convinced that she was the right decision in the mess that we had in high school. Then you left and it felt like my chest had been hollowed out and I've tried damn near everything on the planet to make it whole again. Nothing has ever filled it. We went different ways once we reached college, it was the first week of classes and she already had an entire group of friends that were fed off a silver spoon. They still all follow her around like she's the queen." She laughed and laid her hand on his leg.  
"And what about you, Luke? Which way did you go?" Her voice was soft, almost like she was afraid to ask.  
"I went...I went down a road that I never thought I would. I started school in good spirits, not too worried about anything, still having hope that one day I'd stumble across you somewhere. But little by little, the more Riley and her entourage tried to get me to become one of those, what would you even call them, one of the boyfriends that always came to her beck and call. Dressed up for any event or meeting that she had, camera's in our faces all the time trying to capture us together because one of her friend's dads basically runs half of New York. I didn't want to be Lucas the good anymore, the one who steered everyone away from bad choices, so I started making the bad choices. I started partying, drinking, doing drugs. My grades have never slipped under a B and the friends I have now feel more like family. We just get each other, know when one of us has to let go and blow off some steam." He looked at her and she was watching him, listening to every word that he said.  
"I'm sorry that that's what happened to you guys. What was the fight about at the party if I can ask?" She scooted closer to him on the couch, him welcoming her closeness after all this time.  
"Tonight it was because I wouldn't go with her to find some clothes for a conference she has with her friends and all of their families. She told her friends that I was coming with and when I told her no she got upset. So used to not hearing that word." He laughed and continued. "I told her that she never actually asked me, she just assumed that I'd come with. When I told her I was going to a party she got mad and left after her trio of girls stormed into my room. I didn't know that she would show up at the party." He looked at her hand, her thumb starting to move on his leg. "Speaking of which, why were you there tonight?" She laughed.  
"I had to find you, I had to talk to you. So, I got a hold of Josh. He still has some friends there and asked him to see if he could find where you are. Turns out one of his friends is Nick's older brother, told me where you would be. I thought it was convenient that it was only a few blocks away from where I had found a place to live. So, I came to find you, had a nice time too. I haven't really been out like that since I had Lilah, but I knew when you walked in as soon as you did because a group of girls next to me all squealed and said your name."  
"People never cease to notice me, no matter how hard I try." He smiled and so did she.  
"So, no more Lucas the good?" Maya looked as if she was remembering something significant, a distant look in her eyes.  
"No. No more Lucas the good." He gave her a tight lipped smile. "Although, I think with the new developments," he motioned down the hall, "I might have to take up the title of 'Lucas the slightly okay'." That made Maya laugh, putting a hand over her mouth.  
"Lucas, I didn't tell you about her to force you into her life. I don't want to force you to be a father, I just wanted you to know about her existence." She patted his leg.  
"Oh, come on Maya. Do you really think that after finding out I have a daughter that I'm just going to go back to school and pretend like she doesn't exist? We both know that I can't do that." He pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Maya, I already missed...?" He realized that he didn't know how old Lilah was.  
"She turns four in December." There was a blush rising on her face, his hand behind her head.  
"Shit, I already missed almost four years of her life. I'm not going to miss anymore."  
"Are you sure? What about you and Riles? Or school? Dear god, what is Mama Friar going to think?" She let out a nervous laugh, bringing her hands up to her face.  
"I'm pretty sure Riley and I are over, that's been coming for a long time. I can still go to school, I'm an upperclassmen so I don't have to stay living on campus. I probably will till the end of this semester though, just so I can save enough money to get a place. And my mom? Are you really that worried? She loved you, still loves you and the fact that you gave her her first grandkid, she'll probably hand a portrait of you in the front hall." He laughed and grabbed her face. "We'll make this work Maya, for the sake of your daughter. Our daughter." He didn't expect what she did next. She threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
"I've missed you, Lucas. I've really really missed you." She whispered into his neck.  
"I've missed you too, Penelope." He caught her breathing pause at the use of her middle name, what he used to call her all the time when they were alone. He was the only one that was allowed to use it. She pulled away with a single tear running down her face.  
"I haven't heard that in so long. Oh my, I really have missed that." She looked at her phone. "It's one in the morning, I'll get the couch made up with you." He caught her wrist as she stood up.  
"You don't have to do that, Penelope. I can get a cab back to campus." He started to look for his phone when she grabbed his face, making him look at her.  
"Lucas Friar, I am not about to send you home in this state. You've had a lot of liquor tonight and you had is going to hurt something fierce in the morning. Plus, you can help me with Lilah in the morning." She smiled and lightly tapped his cheek with his hand.  
"Yes, ma'am." He just smiled at her. "You sound like a mom." She laughed.  
"Sweetheart, I am a mom." She walked down the hall to a room, presumably hers. He followed her, watching as she moved, how different she was from high school. She had grown up so much. Her skin tanned from the Texas sun, her hair was cut short, probably because of small children's tendencies to always pull on it. She had ditched the edgy clothes she always wore, turning them in for camisoles and cardigans. She was even wearing flats, not the heels he was so used to seeing her in.  
"Hey, Pen where's the bathroom?" He asked her as she rummaged through her closet.  
"First door and the right side of the hall, Honey." She called over her shoulder. He walked down the hall to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He looked at himself in the mirror, his bloodshot eyes, his tousled hair, the bags under his eyes making it look like he hadn't slept in years. He smiled to himself, feeling excitement run through him.  
"I have a daughter." He mumbled to himself. He brought his hands up to his face, running them through his hair. "I have a daughter and her mom is Maya!" He excitedly whispered. He didn't ever thing that he would get his happy ending, never once thought that he'd see Maya again, let alone see her again with a little mix of both of their DNA. He used the bathroom and ran some water down his face. When he walked back out to the living room Maya was laying a blanket on the couch for him.  
"Hey, here. I found these in my stuff, figured they'd be more comfortable to sleep in than your jeans." She handed him a stack of clothes, there was a pair a pajama pants and a worn out tee shirt.  
"How long have you had these?" They were his, from who even knows how long ago.  
"Stole the shirt sophomore year, the pants I don't even know. I just know that they are extremely comfortable, especially when you're pregnant." She laughed as he just looked at her.  
"It's so hard to picture you pregnant." He sounded lost.  
"I'll show you pictures. I have a bunch of photo books, keeping every memories over the years. I wanted you to be able to see them at some point." She kissed his cheek. "Feel free to turn the T.V. on, just try to keep the volume low. Lilah is a light sleeper. Leave your clothes on the kitchen table, I'll wash them in the morning when I get up. Good night, Honey." She walked down the hall and back into her room. Lucas just stood there, trying to process everything that she had just said. He changed right there in the living room, actually putting the shirt on instead of sleeping shirtless. He figured that Lilah would be running around in the morning. He left the T.V. off, laying down and covering up with the blanket that she gave him to use. He turned on his side, facing the back of the couch letting the last hour run through his brain on a loop.  
Maya was back and with her, she brought back his daughter.  
He was a dad. 

Lucas woke up to the feeling of a hand in his hair. He must've rolled over in his sleep because when he opened his eyes he was looking at the ceiling. The hand moved from his hair to the side of his face.  
"Mr. Lucas....are you awake now?" It was Lilah, her little voice still sounding sleepy.  
"Yes, Ms. Lilah. I am awake." He smiled and sat up. She was smiling up at him, her green eyes shining in the light coming through the window.  
"Good! I wanted you up forever ago!" She practically yelled, running down the hall and then back to him in the living room. "Look! Momma gave me this when we got here! She told me that I'd meet you soon!" She climbed her little three year old body up on the couch next to him, leaning into his side. He put his arm around her and looked at what she was holding. It was a picture of him holding Maya on his back.  
"That's from a long time ago, Lilah." He laughed and looked closer at the picture. He could see Riley lurking in the background, an angry expression on her face.  
"I knooooowwww! Momma said that I wasn't even in her belly yet!" She jumped off the couch again, running around the living room.  
"You have so much energy in the morning." He laughed and watched her run around as Maya came down the hall.  
"Lilah, what did I tell you? This isn't like back home, we have people downstairs that can hear us." She was holding a laundry basket on her hip, giving a pointed look to her daughter.  
"Sorry, Momma." Lilah apologized and Lucas scooped her up, making her laugh as she laid her head on his shoulder.  
"Alright, little lady. How 'bout we make breakfast for all of us, hm? You wanna help me?" Lucas bounced her a little, making her laugh again.  
"Momma, can I help Mr. Lucas?" He looked at Maya and smiled, shrugging his shoulders.  
"As long as you help him clean up afterwards." Lilah nodded. "Then alright. Momma's gotta do some laundry, just yell if you need me." She disappeared back down the hall.  
"Alrighty, Ms. Lilah, what shall we make?" He set her on the counter so that he could work around the kitchen and keep an eye on her.  
"Momma likes nana pancakes!" She kicked her legs.  
"Do you like nana pancakes?" He started looking around the kitchen, trying to find everything that he would need to make them.  
"Yes, sir." He looked over at her as she gave a little nod.  
"Then nana pancakes that it is." She squealed and he laughed at her.  
He let her crack the eggs and let her help him stir. He threw a little puff of flour at her and she threw some back. He was getting everything ready to put them in the pan when Maya yelled his name from the back of the apartment. He grabbed Lilah off the counter and went to where her voice came from.  
"What's up, Maya?" He was holding Lilah on his hip, bouncing from foot to foot as she played with his hair.  
"I just got a text from Nick. Are you supposed to be at class right now?" She showed him her phone, the text from Nick asking her if she knew where he was.  
"Crap, yeah. It's fine, I've never missed a day before this, they'll catch me up when I make my way back to campus at some point." He shrugged and Lilah started to softly sing.  
"Okay, if you say so. I'll let him know that you're here." She smiled and clicked her phone off.  
"Hey, do you have a charger I could use? Mine died last night when I fell asleep." He didn't want to ask but he had to make sure that his phone was ready in case his work called him.  
"Yeah, I'll plug it in, where is it?" She closed the washer and looked at him.  
"It's in the living room, table next to the couch." She walked past him.  
"Y'all go finish up breakfast, I'm hungry." She threw him a smile over her shoulder and he just shook his head as he took Lilah back to the kitchen. He started to cook the pancakes, pulling a plate out to put them all on. He kept an eye on Lilah throughout the process, her wiggling on the counter, asking him questions here and there.  
"You ready to eat, little one?" He put the food on the kitchen table, scooping Lilah up and putting her on her shoulders. She screamed and Maya came running, an alarmed look on her face. "Hey, I was just about to tell you breakfast was ready." He smiled as he brought Lilah down, dipping her low to the ground and they bringing her back up. Her laugh made Lucas feel something he's never felt before.  
"Jesus, I thought something happened to her. I'll be right in, I just have to finish putting some stuff away." She went back down the hall and Lucas sat Lilah at the table as he went in search of plates and utensils for them to eat with. He found one of Lilah's plates and a little pink fork for her, grabbing two big plates for Maya and him. He walked back over to the table and sat down in the chair next to Lilah. She didn't seem to like that and let out a little huff, climbing off of her chair and coming over to him. She used all of the strength she possessed in her little girl arms to climb into his lap. Maya came out and laughed at the picture unfolding in front of her. She pulled her phone out and took a picture of Lucas and their daughter before Lucas looked up.  
"Hey." He smiled.  
"Hey." She smiled back. "Lilah, is there a reason that you're not in your own chair?" Maya pulled a chair out and sat down, taking pancakes to put on her plate.  
"I like him." Lilah said matter-o-factly.  
"I like him too." She looked at him as she put a pancake on Lilah's plate.  
"I'm glad you both like me." He grabbed his own pancakes and they all ate in peace, him or Maya helping Lilah when needed.  
They spent the rest of the day relaxing around the house, watching T.V., coloring with Lilah. Maya was telling Lucas stories of her life in Texas, what she did for a job down there, the horses she trained, the friends she had.  
"Do you wanna go back?" He asked her and her eyebrows scrunched up.  
"I mean, yeah. I'd love to go back, I made a home there." She shrugged as she ran her hand through Lilah's hair. She was laying in Maya's lap, half asleep.  
"We could always go back, ya know. After I'm done with school and everything." He shrugged and looked at her.  
"I hope we can. Baby, come on, get up. It's nap time, say goodbye to Lucas before you go lay down." Maya nudged the little girl.  
"Momma, does he have to go?" The sleepy little girl asked as she crawled into Lucas's lap, laying her head on his chest.  
"Unfortunately, little one. I'll be back soon though, I promise." He kissed her forehead before thinking about it.  
"Okaaayyy." She sighed but didn't move to go back to her mom. He looked at Maya and she just shrugged and pointed down the hall. He nodded and carefully stood up, making sure his arms were wrapped around Lilah. He walked down the hallway and into her room, her bed in the corner. He gently laid her down, detaching her little hands from his sweatshirt. She opened her eyes as she stood up. "Mr. Lucas?" He crouched down to be at her level.  
"Yes, Lilah?" He asked her.  
"Will you come back tomorrow?" She reached a hand out and he grabbed it in his.  
"If your momma says it's okay, I'll be back tomorrow." He kissed her forehead again. "Now, take your nap, sweetheart."  
"Bye, Mr. Lucas." She said as he closed the door and went back to the living room.  
"She is out." He laughed. "She wants me to come back tomorrow. I told her that if you let me, that I'd be back." He sat down next to her as his phone went off again for the twelfth time in the last twenty minutes. He looked at the screen and saw that it was another message from Riley.  
"Of course you can come back. It's good that she likes you." Maya leaned over into him. He wrapped his arm around her before speaking again.  
"I really hate to go but I really have to. I have a paper that I still have to write for class tomorrow." He ran a hand through her hair.  
"Okay. I'll let you out." She hopped up and walked over to the door.  
"I'll text you...wait...do I have your number?" He looked down at her as she laughed.  
"I put my number in your phone when I plugged it in earlier." She hugged him, wrapping her arms around his waist.  
"Then I'll text you when I get home." He leaned down and kicked himself when she pulled away for not kissing her before she opened the door.  
"I'll talk to you later, Luke." She smiled again and he smiled back.  
"I'll talk to you later, Penelope." He walked out the door and to the street, hailing a cab. 

He got out at his dorm building and went right to his room. He walked in, excited to shower and wash last nights party off of him. He was met with a very angry looking Riley sitting on his bed.   
"Where have you been? I've been trying to get a hold of you all day!" She walked up to him and grabbed the front of his sweatshirt. "Where'd you sleep last night? You weren't with the guys and you didn't stay at the house that they party was. You're not dirty so you didn't sleep outside in a park or something."   
"Why are you here?" He pulled away from her and walked into the kitchenette.   
"I'm sorry that I was worried sick about my boyfriend, who by the way wasn't answering me. At all." She followed him into the small space. "I brought you food, I figured you'd be hungry with the wicked hangover you must have." She pulled something out of the mini fridge, trying to hand it to him.   
"I already ate, thanks though." He pushed past her, turning his T.V. on just to turn spotify on to listen to as he showered. "Listen, Riley, if you're not here for anything else, I gotta get cleaned up. I work tonight and I still have a paper to write." He was stopped by a hand on his chest.   
"Why don't I join you? It's been a while since we fucked." Her voice was dripping sweet but it just made him feel repulsed.   
"Not to hurt your feelings or anything, Riles, but I don't wanna fuck you." He pushed her off of him.   
"Riles? No one has called me that since high school..." She squinted at him. "Where you with Maya?" He looked at her.   
"What?"   
"Is that who you were with?" She got closer to him.   
"Why does it matter? It's my life, not yours." He walked past her.   
"You know she has a kid, right? That's why she left. She didn't want to feel the shame of being like Katy." Riley pushed her chest out, proud of herself.   
"There's nothing wrong with Maya having a kid, Riley." Lucas could feel the anger bubbling.   
"Oh, yeah, okay. So it's just completely fine to ruin your life? Not be able to go to college or have a career?"   
"Riley..." Lucas warned but she kept talking.   
"Or you know, ruining the life of someone else who probably had no idea that she wasn't on the pill. I mean, come on Lucas, whoever the father is is probably just some random lay she had when she was in school. We all know that she wasn't exactly the smartest."   
"Riley. Shut up. Now."   
"Why? I'm not wrong am I?" She smiled and twirled her hair around her finger.   
"You are, you really are." He was seething.   
"Oh? And how do you know?" Riley sauntered up to him. He just stared down at her. "See? I'm not." She turned to leave and he stopped her with just a few words.   
"I'm the father." She turned to look at him. He kept talking. "That kid of Maya's? She's mine. She's my daughter and I'll be damned if you think I'm just going to let you talk down on her mother like that." Riley stood there, mouth gaping.   
"You can't be serious. We were together when she would've been conceived." She laughed and it slowly died off as she realized. "Oh my god, you slept with her while you were with me? How could you of..." She looked hurt.  
"We're done, Riley. Get out."   
"I guess this is as good time as any. I slept with someone from that party. Thought you should know." She stood up taller.   
"Okay."   
"It was Nick." She had a smug look on her face.   
"Excuse me?"


	3. We'll Make this Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maya and Lucas tell Lilah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, author here. I'm writing this story because I miss the show hella and Lucaya should've been endgame. so, this is how I'm coping.  
> alright, carry on now :)

"You did what?" Lucas was already beyond pissed, this just made it worse.  
"Yep. I saw you with Maya and how you looked like you were holding the whole world in your arms. So, I went and found someone to have some fun with because you haven't touched me in how long. I stumbled in on Nick and Jess making out and decided that I wanted to know why all the girls rave about him." She had a smug smile on her face, so very proud of herself.  
"Riley, Nick's one of my best friends. He wouldn't do that, he's told me that he has no interest in you. Him and Jess are together for Christ's sake!" He walked around the couch in the open space just to put distance between them.  
"Well they didn't seem very together last night." She laughed and he had to stop to control his breathing. He had to ground himself before he said or did something that he would later regret.  
"Riley, please get out. I have to shower so I can write this paper before I go to work." He managed to get out evenly enough.  
"Fine, I'll leave. We'll talk about your problem later. Better clean your act up though, I have a business conference at the end of this month that I need you to be at with me. Looks good for me if I walk in with someone as attractive as you on my arm." She blew him a kiss and walked out the door. He stood where he was for a little while longer, debating whether he wanted to punch the wall or himself.  
He calmed down and got in the shower, his music playing loudly in the living room. He was trying to think of ways that he could help Maya right now. She had been raising Lilah by herself for almost four years, she obviously knew what she was doing. He had no idea how to be a father, he didn't think he'd ever have to figure it out before he was twenty five. Then again, the universe always like to throw curve balls at him. This is one of those curve balls, one that he desperately needed to figure out a way to handle. He heard his phone going off on the counter by the sink. He figured it was Riley, probably sending him what he was supposed to wear to that stupid conference but he already knew that he wasn't going to be going to. It went off a few more times before it started to ring, reaching his hand out and answering it without looking at who it really was.  
"Listen, Riley I don't have time for your bullshit!" He yelled into the phone.  
"Whoa, Ranger Rick. Calm down, it's just me." Maya's laugh came through the phone.  
"Shit." He turned the shower off and stepped out. "I'm sorry Penelope. Riley was here just before and was on my ass," he paused, "I'm really sorry." He dragged a towel over his hair, attempting to get all the water out of it.  
"It's alright, Hopalong. I just wanted to make sure that you got home alright, you never texted me." He heard her tell Lilah to go get dressed.  
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I made it home okay. I was met with a very angry brunette when I walked through my door, that's why I didn't get a chance to text you." He let out a bitter laugh. "She really, uhh, she started to say some shit that really pissed me off so when she left I jumped in the shower right away."  
"Ah, did she try telling you that I had a kid?" She laughed. "I figured she'd try that card."  
"How'd you know that?" He walked into his room and found his work clothes so that he could just put them on instead of changing later.  
"I ran into her yesterday. Well, I didn't stop to say anything to her and she didn't stop me but I saw her snapping pictures of me and I assumed it would be to show you. Were her friends that were with her the trio of girls you were talking about?"  
"Yep, a joy aren't they?" He grabbed his belt to thread through his pants. "How'd you see them?"  
"I was out getting some clothes for Lilah, not all of her stuff made it from Texas. So, how'd you handle her telling you?"  
"I got pissed, she started talking about how you ruined your life and ruined the life of Lilah's father and all sorts of other bullshit. Oh, and that she slept with my best friend. So, that was cool." He let out another bitter laugh as he flopped onto his couch, opening his laptop to get this paper started.  
"Oo, was is Zay?" The question through Lucas for a loop.  
"Zay? Oh god no. It was Nick. I wonder how say he's doing though. I should probably call him."  
"Lucas! When was the last time that you talked to Zay?" Lucas honestly had to think about it.  
"I guess, it's been almost six months now. He's somewhere in the city, I just don't know where anymore." He logged onto his school account pulling up his assignment. It was only 1500 words this time, not 5000 like this teachers assignments usually were.  
"Call him. Besides, I'm going to have a conversation with Lilah tonight about you. How you're her father and all that. Zay is probably the first of our friends from back then that she should meet. He's the safest one right now." He pushed his computer away from himself and stood up, pacing.  
"Whoa whoa whoa wait. You're going to tell Lilah tonight?" He could hear the nerves in his voice.  
"Well, yeah. She knows that her dad is someone here, I told her that when we were still back home." He heard her rustling around. "I told her that she would get to meet him soon. And you were here last night and y'all made breakfast together this morning. She hasn't stopped asking about you since you left." She laughed.  
"Um, can I...can I be there when you tell her? Is that okay?" He leaned against his counter waiting for her to answer.  
"Of course, yeah, you can be there. I just thought that it might be easier for you for me to tell her on my own. Give you time still to come to terms with it all."  
"There's nothing for me to come to terms with, Penelope. I'm here father and that's how it's going to be for the rest of forever." He smiled.  
"You are correct, Huckleberry. You can come back tonight if you-" He cut her off.  
"I work tonight, I can drop my key to my dorm off and you can come here. I should be back around seven thirty, I have a T.V. and Netflix, there's food if y'all get hungry or something. I mean, if you want to come here...." He heard silence on the other end for a long time until suddenly Lilah's voice was coming over the speaker.  
"Mr. Lucas, are you sure that we can we can we can come over there?" He laughed at her repeating of words.  
"Yes, Lilah. I'm sure that you guys can come over, I would actually love it if you guys came over." He smiled when he heard her squeal like she did this morning.  
"Well there ya have it. I guess we'll be seeing you soon, dropping off a key and all." Maya laughed as Lilah squealed again.  
"I suppose you will be, Penelope. I really gotta write this paper though, so I'll talk to you later, okay?" He walked back over and sat on the couch.  
"Okay, Lucas. I'll talk to you later."  
"Bye, Pen."  
"Bye, Lucas. Oh, wait, Lilah wants to say good bye too. Here ya go sweetie." He heard the thump of the phone being dropped before her little voice was back. "Bye Mr. Lucas!" She laughed.  
"Bye Lilah, I'll see you later, alright?" All he heard was a chorus of strung together yay's before Maya was laughing with him and they hung up.  
He just looked at his screen, trying to figure out a good subject to write about. He thought for a good five minutes before giving up and shutting his laptop. He turned his Netflix on, scrolling aimlessly trying to find something to watch. "Zay....I have to find Zay...." He clicked on something random and let it start playing. He went to the bottom of his contanct list and found his best friend from high school. He just stared at the number at first, unsure of what he was going to say. 'Hey Zay, remember how Maya just up and left up all? Yeah, that was because I don't know how to keep my dick in my pants!' Yeah. That's going to go over well. He let out a sigh and hit dial, now or never I suppose.  
"What up?" Zay answered on the second ring.  
"Hey, man. How's it been?" He heard Vanessa in the back ground.  
"It's been going. Why ya callin, Lucas? Is something wrong?" He heard Zay get up and close a door. Now or never.  
"Um, no, not really. I just...I just got some big news and wanted to share it with you, I guess." He hung his head. "I'm....I'm a dad, Zay. I have a kid." There was radio silence on the other end of the line. "Zay?"  
"I'll be there in five minutes." The call ended. Zay didn't even know where his dorm was anymore. He's moved since Zay say him last, but true to his word five minutes later there was a knock at his door. He didn't even get a chance to get up and open it, Zay just walking in and sitting on the coffee table in front of him. "I'm sorry, you're a what now?"  
"Nice to see you too Zay." Lucas laughed.  
"No no, don't do that. Don't avoid this. I just ran seven blocks to get my ass here." Zay poked him in the chest. "You're a dad?"  
"Yeah, man. I am." He sat forward and ran his hands down his face.  
"How do you know? Who is it? Please don't tell me you got Riley pregnant. Or did you sleep with someone at one of those parties and got them pregnant?" Zay was full of questions.  
"No, no, no. I didn't get Riley pregnant, but god help the soul that does. And no I didn't sleep with someone at a party and get them pregnant."  
"Alright, I'm lost." Zay threw his hands up, something he's always done.  
"Do you remember, back in high school, Riley and I were starting to drift a little bit? Both finding different paths we wanted to go down with our lives and how we ended up getting into a huge fight?" Zay nodded. "That night that everything blew up, I went to Maya."  
"Naturally. She was your safe guard, comfort, confidant. All that shit, but what does Maya have to do with this? She's been gone for almost four years now." Zay tilted his head and Lucas just stared back at him, waiting for the light in his head to go off. "OH! Wait. Hold on, Maya? You got Maya pregnant?! While you were with Riley?!" Zay stood up quickly, pacing just like Lucas did earlier. All Lucas could manage was to nod. "You got Maya Hart-Hunter pregnant. You and Maya? You have a fifty-fifty mix of you two together? Man, your kid has got to be gorgeous. Is that why she left? Took off without telling any of us?" Zay sat down again.  
"Yeah, she told me that she didn't want to ruin Riley and I. Said that we looked like we were on a path to being great with each other. So, she left. Ended up in Texas, actually." He laughed at Zay's face. "Yep, you heard right. Maya Hart ended up in Austin, Texas, raising a kid on her own. Not telling anyone where she was going or why, just poof gone. But she was good down there, she figured everything out."  
"As Maya always does." Zay nodded at Lucas to continue.  
"Last night, while I was out with Nick and them, Riley showed up guns blazing mad about how I didn't go with her to get new clothes and went out shopping instead. She legit pulled me out of the house to yell at me. I said something about Maya while yelling at Riley and then lo-and-behold, Maya came walking down the yard from the house."  
"She was at the party? How? Why?" Zay looked confused as probably anyone would be in this type of situation.  
"Yeah, she was there to find me. I guess Josh is friends with Nick's older brother and they told her where I was going to be. I noticed her at the party I just didn't know that it was her. Her hair is short now, with pink streaks and she looks like a mom." Lucas laughed.  
"Hey, buddy. I'm pretty sure the whole point of this is she IS a mom!" Zay thunked him upside the head.  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, but she's different. More than just she's a mom, she's very....put together now, knows what she's doing with her life. It was weird to see her like that. She's not anything like she was in high school, man." Lucas had a lazy smile on his face.  
"You still love her don't you?" Zay laughed. "You doooooo." Zay laughed harder at Lucas's face getting red.  
"What? No. No, I don't love Maya, not the way that you're implying." He stood up off the couch.  
"Oh, come on, man! You totally did and you totally still do! Look at it this way. Let's say I was having a rough time and instead of going to Vanessa, I went to Rachel. That basically what you did with Maya and Riley! You ran to your girls best friend for comfort instead of going to your girl! Lucas, you always went to Maya in high school, for whatever it was. You were bored, you went to Maya's. You and Riley not getting along? Maya's. You were having a bad day or the team did something great and you wanted to share it with someone? It was always Maya! You never wanted to share those things with Riley first. Honestly, I still don't know how the hell you and Riley have even lasted this long or how y'all got together in the first place." Zay just looked at his friend and when Lucas didn't say anything he kept going. "That night that your kid was made, you and Riley had a huge fight. I remember you calling me, telling me what was going on, how everything was happening and you know what else I remember?"  
"What?"  
"I remember the moment you climbed through Maya's window. You wanna know how I know that that's what you did? It wasn't the sound of the fire escape under your feet, or the grating sound her window always made when it was opened. No, it wasn't any of that. I knew when you had gotten into Maya's room because your voice changed. It sounded like you were talking to me while looking at the most important thing in your entire life. Like you were looking at your whole world. And that, Luke, that only happened around Maya Penelope Hart." Lucas whipped his head to look at Zay. "Don't get your panties in a twist, I've known her middle name since freshman year and no I have never called her by it. I know that that was just a you and her thing."  
"That night....that night I didn't know that we were going to sleep together. I just went looking for a friend. For a shoulder to cry on, someone to listen and actually hear what I was saying. I didn't think that we were going to do what we did." He stopped and started to play with his hands.  
"Lucas, I'm not Riley. You don't gotta try to justify your reasoning to me about why you went to Maya. But let me ask this one question, was that night the first time that you slept with Maya?" Zay stood up and walked over to his friend.  
"No...no it wasn't the first time that Maya and I slept together." Lucas could barely manage above a whisper.  
"Did it happen every time you and Riley fought or took a break? Explain it to me, as much as I don't want to know about your sex life." Zay pushed him to sit on the couch and he did.  
"It started....it started before me and Riley even got together. It started before the triangle was ended. The first time was during out sophomore year. She showed up to my house, a crying mess in the middle of the night. Shawn and her mom had a fight and she heard everything. She was an absolute mess. She climbed into bed with me, cuddle up close to my side and we talked for a really long time. She told me how her first time was with the Brandon kid who always got into trouble and how she regretted it with all of her. She uh I remember her sitting up and she looked at me with something in her eyes, something that I had never seen before. She leaned in close to me and she, she kissed me. It was short and sweet and she looked scared, like I was going to hurt her. I asked her if it was okay for me to make her first time a long lost memory and she climbed on top of me and that was that. The second time was when my dad came here to try to visit me. I ran from my house to hers, not stopping even long enough to make sure I wasn't going to get hit by a car running through the roads. By the time I got to her, I was a raging mess. I didn't know what to do or where to go, and she knew that. She let me yell and scream, throw things around her room and just let go wild. When I was finally done, calmed down a little bit, she walked up to me, like I didn't just unleash Texas Lucas in her room. She grabbed my hands in her face, ran her thumbs over my cheeks and asked me what she could do. I kissed her, without a second thought. I needed her, all of her, and she let me take what I needed. Didn't say no, didn't tell me to stop, she kept telling me that it was okay. To take what I needed, do what I had to to feel alright. She was so bruised the next day when we woke up. They covered her hips and shoulders, her legs and even her neck was bruised. Her wrists were fucked and she had so many bite marks it looked like a whole family of vampires had latched onto her. I remember apologizing and all she did was ask if I was okay. After that, it became a thing for us, for whenever we needed a release from something. It was something that was never really spoken out loud, an agreement made with motions not words for us. It just became our normal, never any questioned asked really, just 'take what you need' and that was that. When the triangle happened, when everything was brought forward, it fucked things up for us. It made it harder for us to....do that...without thinking about the feelings that were there. Then me and Riley got together, Maya forced herself out of the triangle and things got weird. That night when I went to her, it was the first time in a long time that it had happened. And then next thing I know we're walking that stage and Maya's gone." Lucas finished.  
"And that time, it happened and now you have a kid together. You can't tell me that you didn't love her than and now that you know that she's the mother of your child, your first child, you definitely can't tell me that you don't love her now even more." Zay patted Lucas on the back.  
"Zay I have no idea how to be a dad. What if I fuck this up? What if...what if I turn into my dad?" He looked at his friend, genuinely scared.  
"Hey, hey now don't start any of that. You're not going to be your father, Lucas. And you'll figure out how to be a dad along the way. Come on she's gotta be what? Almost four now? Sure all the super trying times are gone but that doesn't mean that you won't have the opportunity to learn."  
"Thanks, Zay."  
"So, when do I get to meet the little munchkin? I get to be the cool Uncle Zay." He clapped his hands and Lucas laughed.  
"I'm dropping my key off at her apartment later so that they can come over here and wait for me to come home from work. Maya's going to tell her that I'm her dad. She'll probably want you to meet her tomorrow but she said that you have to be the first so."  
"Ah, it's a girl! You got yourself a little girl!" Zay jumped up and started bouncing around.  
"Yeah, yeah I do. Her name is Lilah. Lilah Friar." Lucas stood up and Zay wrapped him in a bone crushing hug.  
"I'm so happy for you, Lucas. You're going to be such a good dad. I can't wait to meet her." Zay pulled away from him, wide grin still on his face. "Listen, I gotta go. Vanessa is going out with her friends later and I promised that I would clean up the apartment when she was gone."  
"So you and her still doing alright?" They had been together for longer than Lucas could even remember, honestly.  
"Yeah, we're doing good. Seriously gotta go though, let me know when I need to be here to meet Lilah." Zay shut the door behind him and Lucas smiled to himself. He looked at the time and realized that if he didn't leave now to get his key to Maya that he was going to be late to work. Lucas walked up to her apartment building and he shuddered against the wind. He pulled his jacket closer to him, taking the steps two at a time. There was a blast of warm air that hit him as soon as he opened the complex door. He took the stairs to the second floor the same as the one in front of the building and was standing in front of Maya's door. He knocked twice, the blonde opening the door and coming out in to the hall to talk to him. "Sorry, Lilah's down for a nap right now and I don't want to wake her." She crossed her arms. "It's alright. I don't want her to be grumpy for you later." He laughed and pulled her into a hug, her arms wrapping around his middle. He let go of her after a while and she was red in the cheeks. "Here ya go, I'm on the third floor, our names are by the doors. Make yourself comfortable, I got food and T.V. and all that other shit that should keep y'all entertained while I'm working." "Okay, thanks again. For letting us come over tonight and for um well not exploding and running away from me." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and smiled. "Of course. Text me if you need anything, but I really gotta go. I don't want to be late." He kissed her forehead and went down the hall, leaving Maya standing there with a rising blush. Work was boring as all hell and the only thing that he could think about was that Maya and Lilah were waiting for him when he got home. His boss was up his ass especially so tonight, making Lucas do more grunt work than he did the first year he started here. But he didn't complain, he needed the money, definitely needed it now to help Maya with Lilah. He was finishing the last few things that he was told to do when he got a text from Zay. 'Can I bring Vanessa to meet Lilah tomorrow? I told her about everything happening right now and she wants to see the little girl too.' 'I can ask Maya but it's up to her.' He hit send as his boss rounded the corner. "Lucas! You've done enough, go ahead and take off. I'll have Richie finish it when he comes in later." His boss nodded at him and waved for him to go. "Alright, thank you, sir." He put his things away and grabbed his coat off the hook by the back door. He threw a wave over his shoulder and joined the rest of the bustling city. He walked with his head down all the way to the subway and he barely could barely keep himself from running back to his dorm. When he got into his building, Beth and Carly were standing in the commons. "There you are! We need to talk to you." He groaned as they walked up to him. "Now isn't really a great time. I have to go." He tried to walk past them but Beth caught his arm, forcing him to stop. "Lucas, I know you don't like us but this is important. Please, we'll make this quick." He sighed and turned towards them. "You have three minutes." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Riley told us about how you have a daughter. We just want you to know that we don't think Maya, that was her name right?" He nodded. "We don't think Maya ruined your life, or her own. Having a kid takes a special type of strong to do and we know that you got it, that you guys will be good. We don't know Maya and we really only know you from the shit that Riley forced you to be at but if you ever need something, or you need help, just let us know." Beth looked sincere, which just confused Lucas more. "Why would you offer to help me? Riley and I, we aren't even together anymore. Even though she doesn't seem to understand that." "We all know how Riley is, but this time is different. You have a family to take care of now and she'll understand that soon, hopefully." Carly said to him, also looking serious. "We just want you to know that we'll help you if you need it because we do care about you and your well being. We do consider you a friend of ours and we never let our friends struggle." "Okay, well, I have to go now. But thank you, I'll keep your offer in mind." He smiled at them and started to walk away. "Another thing Lucas," Beth said. "Riley didn't sleep with Nick. She came to my room and cried about you being with Maya." "Okay." He walked away from them and this time he did run to his room. He had to knock on his door to get in because Maya had his key. "Huckleberry's residence." Maya swung the door open and smiled up at him when she saw who it was. "Penelope." He walked past her and took his coat off as a very small body collided with his legs. "LUCAS!!!" Lilah clung to his legs, laughing as he started to walk with her on him. "Hi, Lilah. Excited to see me?" He picked her up off of his feet and started to swinging her around, making her laugh. She let out a chorus of yes's and he threw her on his bed. "I've been trying to keep her entertained but she was very interested in your PS4." Maya laughed as she came over to hug Lucas. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, him moving his hands to the back of her thighs. "Hey." He said. "Hey." She said back. He spun her around the room and picked Lilah up too, holding both of them with ease. "Still strong as a horse, I see." Maya laughed and he put them down. "Yep, and I still don't have to work at it. I just am." He laughed too, remembering the first time he said that to her. She laughed as she steered Lilah towards the couch. "Honey, we came here for a very important reason." She sat down next to her daughter, Lucas on the other side of her. "Okay, Mommy." The little girl nodded her head and just stared up at her mom. "Do you remember what I told you about your dad? How he was here in New York?" Lilah nodded. "I told you that he was a very good friend of mine, didn't I?" "Yes, you said that he loved you but you had to leave anyways." Lucas's heart broke a little with the little girls words. "That's right, Lilah. Well, what if I told you that you can meet your daddy now?" Lilah's face lit up with a smile. "Really? I get to meet my daddy?" She started to bounce on the couch. "Yes, baby, you do." Maya watched her daughters face fall. "Honey, what's wrong?" Maya ran a hand through her hair. "What if- what if he doesn't like me?" Lilah whispered, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout. "Lilah-" Lucas started to say by say but Maya stopped him. "Lilah, your daddy is going to love you. He's going to think that you are a precious little angel, he's going to think that you are the most perfect little thing he's ever seen. Even though he hasn't been able to see you, doesn't mean that he won't absolutely adore you. Got it?" Maya tilted her head up and Lucas just watched the interaction. "Got it." Lilah gave a little nod. "When do I get to meet him?" She started to bounce again. "Well, what if I told you that..." Maya paused and looked at Lucas. "That Lucas was your daddy?" Her and Lucas paused, waiting for Lilah's reaction. "Whatta ya say, Lilah? Will you let me be your daddy?" Lucas spoke from behind Maya. He was met with a squeal and a toddler climbing across Maya's lap to throw herself at Lucas. He didn't know what else to do beside hug his daughter. This was the best thing that has ever happened to him. Maya hugged him too, sandwiching Lilah between them. "You're my dad!" Lilah squealed between them and grabbed onto Lucas tighter. When they pulled away from each other Maya had tears coming down her face, and so did Lilah. "Babygirl, why are you crying?" Lucas wiped the tears off of her little face. "Because," hiccup "because," hiccup "I finally have a dad." She let out a little cry and hugged Lucas again, putting her face in the crook of his neck. "Oh, baby," Maya rubbed her back. "He's never going to go anywhere. He's here now." Maya wiped at her own face. "Promise?" Lilah lifted her head and put both of her hands on the sides of Lucas's face. "I promise." He kissed her cheek and started tickling her, making her laugh. They spent the rest of the night watching movies together and Lucas put Lilah to bed in the extra twin he had in his dorm. Lucas and Maya talked about what they were going to do from here out and how they were both going to help with Lilah. They talked about where Lucas was going to stay, whether it was a smart move for him to move in with them or if he should just stay in his dorm until the semester was over. "I got a hold of Zay, by the way." He told her as she laid into his side. "Did you? That's good, what did you say?" She checked her phone. "I told him about you and Lilah. He ended up coming over and we talked for a while. He's excited to meet her, but I told him that I had to talk to you about it, before I could tell him what time he should come over to see us." He ran his hand through her hair. "Okay, we can talk about it tomorrow morning. I haven't seen him in forever, well to be fair, I haven't seen any of you guys in a long time." She let out a small laugh. "Are you okay?" He asked her. "Yeah, yeah I'm alright. I'm just scared, ya know? I've been doing this on my own for the last four years and now that I have you again and you want to actually be here for her. I don't even know, Lucas. I'm just afraid of what's next." She sighed and sunk deeper into his side. "Aw, come on now, Penelope. No need to be scared. We got this, together." He reassured her. "Together?" "Together. We always figure it out. We'll make this work." He kissed her forehead and they both fell quiet, watching the T.V.. Eventually they fell asleep on the couch together, holding onto each other like they would disappear into thin air if they let too much space in between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't know why the last part of this chapter got all fucked up but it literally wouldn't let me fix it, my apologies.


	4. Uncle Zay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maya and Lucas introduce Lilah to Zay  
> Jealous Riley rears her ugly head

Lucas woke up alone on the couch, music playing from the bathroom. He got up and wandered his was into his kitchen and started a cup of coffee. Maya came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel holding Lilah on her hip, wrapped in a little dino towel.   
"Good morning." He laughed taking a drink from his cup.   
"Hey! Morning, sorry if we woke you up. I always give her a bath in the morning." Maya walked over and set Lilah back on the bed, pulling clothes out of a bag for the both of them.   
"You didn't wake me up. I figured you'd want coffee, it's ready for when you are." He pulled another cup out of the cupboards. "I'm going to catch a quick shower." He smiled at Maya and she nodded at him as she was ruffling Lilah's hair.   
Lucas didn't even bother turning his music on as he showered, just trying to get in and get out as fast as possible. When he stepped out of the shower he grabbed the last towel and dried off enough to make sure that his clothes didn't stick to him all funny. He could hear his phone ringing through the door.  
"Maya, can you answer that?!" He yelled through the door, trying to throw his shirt on faster.  
"Yeah, I got it." He could hear Lilah laughing. He put his belt through the loops and clicked open the door.   
"Here, Pen. I can take it." The look on her face worried him but she gave him a small smile and his phone. "Hello?"   
"She's there? Are you kidding me, Lucas?" It was Riley's shrill voice coming through it at him.  
"What the fu-" He stopped short at the sight of his daughter. "Maya, I'm going to step outside for a second. Are y'all gunna be okay?" He saw how downcast Maya looked.   
"Yeah, honey, we'll be fine." Maya swooped down and picked up Lilah, dancing around the room with her. He smiled and walked into the hallway.   
"What the fuck, Riley? Was yesterday not clear enough for you? Is there something else that I have to say for you to understand? I'm actually confused as to why you aren't getting it." He was angry, he was pissed. He knew that she must've said something to Maya by the way that she looked.  
"I don't know why you're angry at me! You're the one with that whore over! It's nine in the morning, Lucas! What'd she do, spend the night?" Lucas stayed silent. "Oh my god! She did didn't she? I'm coming over."   
"Riley, don't come over here. There's no fucking point in you being here." Lucas balled his fist at his side. The last thing he wanted right now was for Riley to come over while Maya was here with their daughter.   
"Too bad." There was a click and he knew that she had hung up.   
"Fuck." He muttered under his breath as he walked back into his dorm.   
"Mr. Lucas! Is everything okay? You look mad." Lilah stretched her arms up to him and he picked her up.   
"I'm okay, sweetheart. Where'd momma go?" Maya wasn't any where in sight.   
"She went into the bathroom. She told me to wait out here. Is momma okay?" His little girl laid her head on his shoulder as he walked further into the room, noticing the shut bathroom door.   
"Yeah, she's okay. I'm going to go check on her, alright? Can you wait right here for us?" He sat her on the couch in front of the T.V., her show still playing from earlier.   
"Mhm." She nodded her head and focused on the T.V.. Lucas smiled and knocked on the door before slowly opening it.   
"Penelope? Can I come in?" He didn't step all the way in at first, not wanting to invade just yet.   
"Yeah." A soft sounding response came from the other side of the door. He looked back at Lilah to make sure that she was still okay before he walked in by Maya. He left the door cracked open so that they could hear Lilah in case something happened. When he caught sight of Maya he dropped to his knees in front of her. She had tears streaming down her face, her body was shaking with how hard she was crying.   
"Oh, Penelope." He wrapped his arms around her and held tight. He could feel her tears on the side of his neck but he didn't care. "What'd she say to you?" He pulled away and she shook her head. "Penelope. Tell me. Please." He grabbed her face and wiped the tears falling with his thumbs.   
"She called me a whore." She whispered to him. "She told me that if I could've just kept my legs closed that you and her would have been just fine for the rest of your lives." She let out a sob, covering her face. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "I don't know who that was on the phone, but that definitely was not the Riley that we grew up with. Who would wish...who would wish that their friends baby died?" She looked up with so much pain in her eyes that it broke Lucas to his core.   
"I don't know who she is either...Penelope, I'm so so SO sorry that this is happening to you. And it's because of me.." He pulled her to him again and when she pushed him away he let her.   
"No. No, Lucas. This is not your fault, understand?" She stood up, walking in front of the mirror while wiping tears off of her face.   
"Pen...." Lucas reached out to her and she spun, a strong expression on her face.   
"Lucas Friar." The texan accent came out thicker than he thought was capable for only being down there for four years. "This is not your fault. I don't know what crawled up Riley's ass when I left and honestly I don't care to find out." She looked in the mirror and dabbed cold water on her face. "I'm not going to let this prissy little bitch ruin the first day that I get to spend with my daughter and her father as a family." She ran her fingers through her hair and he just looked at her. He was getting a glimpse of the old Maya, except this time, she had a Texas twist. All he could do was smile.   
"Well, alrighty then Ms. Penelope. Let's go." As they spun to go back out, Lilah came busting through the door, yelling and running straight to Maya.   
"Baby, what's wrong?" Maya picked her up and held her head, holding her close.   
"There's someone yelling on the other side of big door. They keep hitting it too." Lucas heard the pounding and Maya looked at him as she continued to hold their now crying daughter.   
"Son of a bitch." Lucas grumbled walking out of the bathroom, Maya following behind her. "Pen, stand in the kitchen. I don't want her to see you, I don't know what she's gunna do." Maya looked at him funny but still listened. She hushed Lilah and they sat in the corner on top of the counter. Lilah tucked her face into Maya's shoulder.   
"Lucas! Open the fucking door!" She hit the door some more. "I know you're in there!" He kept the chain link lock on and opened it, keeping his boot on the inside so it couldn't be opened any further.   
"I told you to not come here." His voice had a steel edge to it and was cold as ice.   
"And I told you that that was too bad! Let me in!" She shoved at the door.   
"No, I don't think that that's going to happen." He gave her a thin lipped smile. "You should leave." He tried to close the door and she shoved her perfectly manicured nails into his dorm.   
"Lucas fucking Friar if you don't let me in this dorm room right fucking now-" Lucas felt a hand glide across his side, his little spitfire taking residence at his side. He had to hide the smile that threatened to cross his face.   
"Or what, Riley? What are you going to do?" Maya stood there like she could stop a tsunami and right now Lucas believed that she could. He saw Maya smirk at Riley's evident rage and that's when he let the smile lose.   
"You fucking...Why are you still even here?!" Riley yelled trying to claw at Maya, making Lucas grab her wrist.   
"She's here because I want her here. You on the other hand.." Lucas scoffed as he threw her arm back at her.   
"I'm here, darling, because unlike you I actually make Lucas happy. Something that you've never proven to be able to do." Maya's accent popped again. Lucas knew that that was a low blow, but she was right.   
"I...I hate...I hate you Maya Hart." Riley whispered. "And I hate your kid too, for ruining my entire fucking life." Riley stood there in silence as Lucas wrapped his arm around Maya, holding her back from ripping Riley limb from limb for bringing Lilah into it all. He wanted to do it too but for the sake of the Riley's safety, he kept Maya back.   
"Leave. I'm not telling you again." He set Maya back down next to him where she proceeded to wrap around him. "Come back and I'm calling the cops. Have fun in life Riley." Lucas shut the door and re-locked it. He let out a sigh and held Maya to his chest.   
"Baby, you can come out now." Maya spoke into his chest but Lilah still heard her, climbing out of one of his cupboards.   
"Is the bad lady gone?" She was hesitant walking towards her parents.   
"Yes, sweetheart, the bad lady is gone." Lucas crouched down and Lilah walked right into his arms. "How about some breakfast? Are you hungry?" He looked from Lilah to Maya and then back.   
"Yeah!" Lilah nodded enthusiastically.   
"I have to finish getting ready for today." Maya looked at him. "I'll take her, you get a hold of Zay? See if he can meet us this early?" Lucas let go of Lilah and she took her mom's hand.   
"Yeah, I can call him." He stood and kissed Maya's forehead. She smiled and pulled Lilah into the bathroom with her after grabbing her bag again. On the first ring this time, Zay answered.   
"Where and when? Should I bring something? Should I prepare myself to see Maya again? I already told Vanessa that she can't come today." Zay spilled over the phone and Lucas could hear the sound of a car starting in the background.   
"Zay, dude. I was calling to see if you wanted to join me and the girls out for breakfast?" Lucas laughed.   
"Yes yes yes, where? Where are we going?" Zay sounded so excited.   
"I was going to offer up Topanga's but we just had a slight situation with Riley. We're probably going to go to the old diner Katy used to work at." He looked towards the sound of the door opening again and out stepped high school era Maya Hart. Ripped jeans, high heels, band cut off shirt and a leather jacket. Only now she was accompanied by an adorable child on her hip that was laughing at Lucas's reaction to her.   
"Okay, I'll meet you there then." Zay's smile could be heard through the phone.   
"Also, Zay? You definitely need to prepare yourself to see Maya again." He let the phone drop as he hung up. "Holy ffff..." He drew out.   
"What? Is there something on my jacket?" She did a little twirl and winked at Lucas.   
"Nope, uh, no. I don't...I don't see anything. You look..." He looked her up and down.   
"Thanks, Honey." Maya walked up to him and stood to his chin now. "Where are we going for breakfast?"   
"I was going to say Topanga's but with what just happened I assumed that wouldn't be the greatest idea. So, what about the place your mom used to work?" He grabbed his keys before she stopped him.   
"That's fine and I'm driving. I have the car seat for Lilah." She smiled and grabbed her keys off the counter. She sauntered out of the dorm with him following behind her. She walked so flawlessly in heels yet, even with a wiggling three year old on her hip.   
The drive was fun, he convinced Maya to let him drive her truck. He wondered what life would be like right now if he had known back in high school. If she would've told him that she was pregnant. He wouldn't have been with Riley for so long. He would've found a school where ever she wanted to go. Hell, he would have been more than happy to move back to Texas with her and raise there daughter there. When they pulled up to the diner, he could see Zay standing outside of his car.   
"Wow, Zay doesn't look like he's changed at all." Maya looked at him out of her window. Zay looked right at the truck but didn't recognize her.   
"He may not look it but he definitely has. He's more of an adult now." Lucas laughed as he backed the truck up into a parking spot.   
"That's to be expected, Lucas. We're almost twenty three." Maya looked at him with narrow eyes, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. He just rolled his eyes and chuckled as he got out. He told Maya that he was going to go talk to Zay and she said okay, working to the back of the truck to get Lilah out.   
"Zay!" He yelled down the road to his friend. His entire face lit up as Lucas got closer.   
"Where is she, where is she?" Zay was bouncing on his feet.   
"She's right there." Lucas smiled and pointed over his shoulder. Maya was walking down the sidewalk with Lilah walking next to her.   
"No way. That's not Maya. There's no way." Zay held his hand up to his chest.   
"Isaiah Babineaux, I know that you're not just going to stand there and look at me." Maya laughed. Lilah looked at Zay with wide eyes.   
"Holy shit, it is her." He hit Lucas on the shoulder as he ran past him. Lucas picked Lilah up as Zay picked Maya up. He spun her around, laughing with each other. "Maya Hart! Maya!" Zay set her back on her feet. "My God, have I missed your face." He put his hands up on either side of it. "You look..."   
"Like a mom? I've been told." She laughed and joined Lucas and Lilah in front of the diner.   
"I was going to say beautiful but yeah there's that too." He laughed and opened the door for all of them. They picked a booth in the back corner, the waitress giving them a children's menu and crayons for Lilah. They all took a few minutes to look over the menus and order what they all wanted.   
"Maya, Maya, what have you been up to?" Zay handed the waitress the menus back and crossed his arms on top of the table. Maya was helping Lilah draw some lines on the paper in front of her, not even looking up to answer him.   
"Growing up, I suppose." She have him a smile. "I've been out in Texas, raising Lilah and working. Doing the whole mom thing." She shrugged. Lilah scribbled some purple across the paper.   
"Texas, who would've known that the great Maya Hart would end up in Texas of all places." Zay laughed. "Did you have any friends down there? Maybe have a boyfriend or something?" Lucas pointed a look at him and Maya didn't even try to control her laugh. She set the crayons down that she was holding and folded her hands under her chin.   
"I had friends, yes. They were all other moms from where I had Lilah in daycare so I could work. And no, I didn't have a boyfriend down there. I didn't want anyone around my daughter except for her father. I had no need to keep company when this little girl was enough for me." Maya looked over at Lucas who was staring at Lilah. "Hey, Cowboy. I never wanted anyone around but you. I still don't." Lucas smiled at her.   
"What'd you do for work? Art stuff or...." Zay left the question open, taking a drink of his water.   
"Don't laugh, either of you." She pointed at them and they both nodded. "I trained horses and helped out on my friends farms on the weekend." She mumbled, too quiet to hear.   
"What? I didn't quite catch that." Zay said to her.   
"I trained horses." She laughed. "That was my job. I took pictures on the weekends for some extra money." She rolled her eyes at the laughs that boys couldn't contain.   
"Horses? You got near horses?" Lucas asked her.  
"Yep, even your daughter did. Hey, Lilah. What's the first thing you check before getting on a horse?" Lilah laid her crayons down and looked right at Maya.   
"You make sure the saddle is on right." Maya nodded at her.  
"And after that?"   
"You make sure that your helmet is on and then ask for help getting up if you're small like me." Lilah smiled big at her momma.  
"Perfect, honey." Maya ran her hand over Lilah's hair. "What about when the horses don't have saddles on? Then what?"   
"Check your helmet, get on the horse and wrap your hand in its mane. And for meeee, wait for Momma to get on with me so I don't fall off." Lilah laughed and they all joined in.   
"Wow, little lady. You sure know a lot about horses." Zay looked at Lucas and he just shrugged his shoulders.  
"Yes, uncle Zay, I do." She gave a very powerful nod and picked her crayons back up again. They all stared at her in disbelief.   
"Did you just? Am I uncle Zay? Did I really just get that title?" Zay hit Lucas's shoulder again.   
"I think you did." Lucas and Maya laughed.  
"Baby, do you want Zay to be your uncle?" Maya asked the little girl.   
"He's Daddy's brother right?" Lilah looked between Zay and Lucas.   
"Yeah, yeah sweetheart he is." Lucas looked at Zay, smiling wide.  
"Then you're my uncle." Lilah said as she colors in some more shapes on her menu. They all laughed at that.   
"The little one has spoken." Zay smiled as the waitress brought their food out to them.   
They all ate their food, Maya helping Lilah with her pancakes when needed. That little girl really loved pancakes. There was a little bit of small talk here and there but they were focused on their food more.   
"What are your guys plans for the rest of the day?" Zay asked around a mouthful of toast.  
"Isaiah, don't talk with your mouth full!" Maya swatted at his arm. He just stared at her.   
"The old Maya would've just done it with me." He pouted.  
"The old Maya also wasn't a mom and she hardly had any manners." Maya smiled at him as he tried to find something to say.   
"We don't really know what the rest of the day looks like. We only really got to planning breakfast." Lucas took a drink of his coffee.   
"Maya, have you seen your mom yet?" Zay looked at Maya and Lucas. "Alright, judging by your reactions, I'm going to have to go with a no on that one." He sipped his water, an uncomfortable silence falling over them.   
"Can we meet gramma today too?" Lilah climbed onto Maya's lap.  
"You are one rambunctious little girl aren't you." Maya laughed at the squirming girl. She looked at Lucas and he shrugged.   
"I haven't seen your mom since graduation." He told her and she nodded.   
"I guess, I guess I should make some phone calls." Maya smiled and put Lilah back on the booth bench. "Stay here with Daddy, I'll be right back." Maya walked out of the diner, Zay shifting to the other side of the table to make sure that no one could get to Lilah.   
"Did she even tell her mom that she was back?" Zay asked Lucas.  
"Well," He craned his neck to see out the window to the truck. "I'm going to have to go with a no on that one. She's pacing like a lion caught in a cage." Lucas slid his and Lilah's plates to the end of the table, stacking them so that it was easier for the waitress to take them.   
"Well shi-" Lucas gave him a look, "shoot. I guess today just got a little more interesting than anyone thought." Zay's attention was grabbed by Lilah pulling on his shirt and handing him a crayon. Lucas took the opportunity to pull his phone out, looking to see why it had been blowing up so badly. Not much to his surprise, it was all Riley. He sighed and just put it away.   
"Daddy! Look at what me and uncle Zay did!" Lilah held up the paper to show him that she had drawn all of them of them standing together. Even Zay was there.   
"That's beautiful, sweetheart." He looked up and Maya was walking back to the table. She had a smile on her face but it didn't reach her eyes. She slid into the booth next to Lucas.  
"Momma look what I did!" Lilah held up the paper again.   
"I love it! We'll take it home with us so that I can hang it up for everyone to see." Maya looked at him with sad eyes as Lilah started to babble to Zay again.   
"You alright?" Lucas nudged her leg under the table with his.   
"My mother, she isn't exactly pleased that I haven't talked to her since graduation. She told me that she would need some time before she could see me." Maya ran her hands through her hair. "I didn't even get a chance to tell her about," She tilted her head towards Lilah. "before she hung up on me."   
"Pen, I'm sorry. Hopefully she doesn't need a huge amount of time. If anything, I could get a hold of my mom? See if we can swing by tomorrow?" Lucas laid his hand on top of hers. She flipped hers up to lace her fingers through his, Lucas catching Zay's smirk.   
"Yeah, yeah, that's probably a good idea. I have to work soon, can you take Lilah? It's just for a few hours." Maya pulled her buzzing phone out of her pocket.   
"I work soon too." Lucas and Maya just stared at each other with an 'oh fuck' look on their faces.   
"Hi yes," Zay waved his hand in front of them. "I am perfectly qualified to watch a child and I am completely free all of today."   
"Wait, you'd take her? Like I said it's only for a few hours.." Maya dragged on.   
"I'd love to take her. Vanessa will go crazy, in a good way, with her there. She's had real bad baby fever lately." Zay smiled at them and when they didn't say anything he continued. "Lucas, how long have I known you?"   
"Since first grade." Lucas smiled and nodded at him.   
"Maya, how long have I known you?"   
"Since eighth grade." She tilted her head to look at him.   
"At some point or another, I was best friends with both of you, correct?" They both nodded in response. "Then let me reassure you that you guys are still my best friends and I won't let anything happen to her, for those few hours y'all are gone." Zay smiled at them and then at Lilah.   
"I guess we can't argue with that logic." Lucas laughed and looked at Maya.   
"For now. I'm sure I'll find some mom logic to argue that with at some point." But she smiled anyways.   
"Good. So, it's settled." He stood up and Maya followed to talk to him about the things that he needs to know to take care of Lilah. Zay left with a big smile on his face and Maya came back to the table.   
"Ready to go?" She asked and Lilah bounded out of her seat, Maya helping her put her jacket on while Lucas went to go pay.   
They got back to the truck and all got settled back in. Lucas drove them to his dorm so Maya could grab all of their stuff and then they went on their way to Maya's apartment.   
"We should probably sit down and see how conflicting our work schedules are so I can talk to my manager about changing things around." Lucas looked at her while he came to a stop at the red light.   
"You think he's gunna let you? Just switch it up on him like that?" Maya looked at him.   
"Yeah, once I tell him about everything. He's a really cool dude." Lucas smiled as he pulled through the light.   
"Thank you, Lucas. Zay is going to be stopping around one to grab her, I have to be at work at noon. Can you stay with her until you have to leave?" Maya asked, punching some things into her phone.   
"Yeah that's fine. Only one problem though, Penelope." She whipped her head up.  
"What? What's wrong?" She looked in the back seat and then at him.   
"I never grabbed my car, we only have your truck." She let out a rush of air.   
"You scared me. That's okay, you can just take me to work and I'll have Zay pick me up when I'm done." She smiled. "Just take the truck to work."   
"You sure?" Lucas pulled up to the curb in front of her house.   
"Yes, sir." She winked and got out.   
He knew that this little thing, figuring out who was watching her, what cars they were using, that type of thing, is only the beginning of their new life together.   
He was so ready for it.


End file.
